The Evolution of MyAmerica: Part II

     After re-reading my recent blog posts, I realized the thing that has changed the most this quarter is that I realized I have an audience outside of our AS class. I first realized this when I got a couple of random comments on my Miley Cyrus blog. It was right around the time of the Miley Cyrus bong scandal and someone had obviously been googling her name and came upon my blog. The comments didn't have anything to do with the overarching topic, but used many profanities to describe Miley and her father (which I had to delete to keep my blog PG). After this incident, I found the "stats" button on the blogger homepage and saw that I had viewers in the Philippines, Latvia, and a bunch of other countries. This new discovery changed my style of blogging by making me write more directed to a general audience, not just people who know exactly what is going on in our class. I think it also makes blogging a little more rewarding because now I know my ideas are being heard by people around the world.

      Another thing I noticed when I looked back at my blog this quarter was that I hadn't blogged as frequently as I would have liked to. Though I think this was mainly because of winter break and the stressful week of school before the holidays, I was a bit disappointed in myself for not keeping up on my blog. Now, after spending some time on my blog before the end of the semester, I realized again how cool this assignment is. I really enjoy that our teachers have embraced modern technology and given us a public forum to discuss the things that we don't have time for in class.
 P.S. The blog I would like you to grade is "Exempt By Association?"

Cee Lo's Secret Exposure

Ever since I wrote my first post about Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the N-word, I've continued to think about it a lot and see connections all over the place. The other day I was listening to Cee Lo Green's song "F**k You" and singing along and all of the sudden I heard the N-word come out of my mouth. This is one of my favorite songs and my friends and I sing along to it all the time, but I had never noticed that the song had the N-word in it, yet I had been singing it at the top of my lungs for weeks. It makes me wonder why people pay attention to the word in Huck Finn (a time when it is used for an actual purpose) but don't complain about its overuse in rap music (for no apparent reason at all). Personally, I think it's better for kids to be exposed to the N-word in a classroom environment where a teacher can tell them that it isn't a word to use and teach them about the historical significance of the word rather than just hearing it in their favorite music. What do you think?

Toy Story: My Story

 *SPOILER ALERT: If you have not seen Toy Story 3 and don't want to have the ending ruined, do not read past the second paragraph or watch the video clip!!! (If you have, enjoy the entire blog post...)*

     Tonight, I decided to take a break from studying and finally watch Toy Story 3. Let me start by saying it was AMAZING and I definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn't already seen it. It was a hilarious and clever movie, but the thing that struck me the most about it was how it speaks to kids our age and the many similarities between Andy's life and my own.
     Ever since junior year started, I have been getting questioned about college and what I want to do with my life. Though I'm really excited to go to college and experience new things out on my own, I feel like I am being pushed to grow up just because I am at "that age" (the age everyone assumes is the end of childhood, whether you, personally, are ready for it or not). Similarly, at the beginning of the movie, Andy's mom pressures him to make a decision about what to do with his toys as he is preparing to leave for college. Throughout the movie, Andy struggles with the dilemma of what to do with his toys- throw them away, keep them in the attic, or bring them to college with him. I see these options as representing ways to "dispose" of your childhood- become an adult immediately and never be childlike again, keep some childish qualities but still live your adult life, or never grow up.

     Eventually, Andy decides to pick answer D- "none of the above"- and hands off his treasured childhood toys to a tutu-clad little girl who promises to take good care of them and play with them all the time. I think this choice represents another way of dealing with growing up- embracing adulthood and passing on the childish fun to the next generation (while still having fun like a kid every once in awhile). What will you do?

We talk, kids listen

Today, while discussing childhood in class, I started to think about what things were emphasized in my house when I was younger. The common focuses came to mind first; sharing is caring, cleaning up is fun, and no whining allowed. After thinking for awhile longer, I realized that the things that were taught when I was young are responsible for the things that make me who I am today. For example, one of my pet-peeves is bad grammar. Whenever I hear someone say "Do you want to come with?", "Me and Ellie had fun!" or "I really need to do good on this test", I cringe at the sound of the words. When I thought back to when this pet-peeve started, I realized that it was because my parents always corrected our grammar (even when we were very young). Even though it's annoying to be bothered by bad grammar, I am still thankful for this small quirk in my personality because it's one of the things that make me who I am. When you think about it, who you are as a person is really just a combination of everything and everyone who has ever influenced you.

Think before posting

          Today, one of the students in my class brought to our attention some extremely inappropriate and hurtful  comments that were written on his blog. After discussing his specific situation for awhile, a bigger question came up- when, if ever, should the right to freedom of speech be breached (in cases involving the Internet) in order to ensure the safety of an individual?

          Though censorship doesn't seem like an American ideal, I think it is necessary in certain cases to keep violent or malicious Internet-writers in check. In the past, our government has deemed it necessary to censor newspapers and other types of media for the benefit of the country, so they should have the same right with the Internet. If anything, the Internet is more dangerous than the official media because anyone can write anything they want online. Another factor that makes the Internet dangerous has to do with its easy anonymity. When a person is saying something in person, their conscience effects them and they censor themselves to not say anything that would cause offense to their listener. On the other hand, when a person is sitting in front of a computer screen, typing their thoughts rather than saying them out loud, they feel free to say exactly what comes to their mind no matter how hurtful or offensive it may be. I think having some restrictions in place would cause people to think before posting, which would definitely be for the better of the Internet as a whole. Do you think there are any other solutions to this problem?

*for additional information about Internet censorship and how other countries have dealt with this issue click here

Exempt by association?

Lately, there has been a lot of controversy regarding the classic novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and the use of the "N" word (to read more click here). Many people feel that exposing our youth to this type of language is unacceptable and that the book should be censored by replacing the "N" word with the word "slave". Though people all over the country have been reacting strongly to this proposal, one of the most famous reactions was that of Roger Ebert. Ebert posted a tweet that said, "I'd rather be called a [N-word] than a slave." Many people found this tweet offensive because Ebert is not black and would never have to deal with being called either name (click here to see one reader's response). However, others argue that he does have the right to make this statement because he is married to a black woman. This argument brings up the bigger issue of whether or not a person can be exempt from being called a racist because they are associated with a person of color. For example, after Obama was elected president, I heard the excuse "I'm not a racist- I voted for Obama!" as a very common argument when anyone was accused of being a racist. Even though many people accept this as a good enough excuse and move on, I don't think it is a reason to make racist remarks.

This idea of being exempt by association applies to things other than racism, such as using the "R" word. I am a huge proponent of not using the word "retarded" when referring to people with disabilities or any time, so whenever any of my friends uses it, I mention to them that they shouldn't say that. It's shocking how many times I've heard the excuse, "Well, I have a cousin with special needs so it's fine" or something along those lines. But, I don't think there is any excuse to ever use that word. I think the same rule goes along with the N-word- just because you know or support a person of color does not mean you have the right to use racist language.

P.S. If you want to join the campaign against the R-word, click here

The Lost Boys

As we begin reading the classic book, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, one of the topics that has come up in discussion is the idea of extended adolescence. After some research online, I stumbled upon the concept of the "Boomerang Generation", which is a term used to describe the current generation of young adults who move in and out of their parents' house or "boomerang" back and forth from adolescence to adulthood. Though this term doesn't describe the entire generation, I think it is a pretty good summary of the type of young adults in our country right now.

Being the youngest child of three, I have a lot of experience with twenty-somethings who have finished college, but have yet to find a full-time job. Though both of my siblings are working or going to school, they have noticed that out of their close friends from high school, only about 10% have "actual" jobs, while the other 90% are living at home or teaching English in a foreign country. The obvious cause for this change in the lives of young college graduates is the recent economic crisis. Since there are so many experienced adults unemployed, the first-time job hunters are having an even harder time finding a job in the industry they studied in school. I think the economic instability of this generation is forcing them to rely on their parents and keeping them in a perpetual state of adolescence. Do you think there is any way for a young adult to reach adulthood without economic stability?